Printer having a document transfer device

ABSTRACT

A printer for printing and binding documents and for moving bound documents into a collection tray. The printer has printing means designed to print onto substantially planar print media, a binder designed to bind a plurality of substantially planar print media together to form a substantially planar bound document and to retain the bound document in a substantially vertical orientation. The printer also has a collection tray positioned beneath the binder which is designed to receive and retain a bound document in a substantially vertical orientation. The printer also has a document transfer device positioned beneath the binder and above the collection tray. The document transfer device is designed to transfer a bound document from the binding means to the collection tray while maintaining the substantially vertical orientation of the bound document.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with thepresent application:

09/575,197 09/575,195 09/575,159 09/575,132 09/575,123 09/575,14809/575,130 09/575,165 09/575,153 09/575,118 09/575,131 09/575,11609/575,144 09/575,139 09/575,186 09/575,185 09/575,191 09/575,14509/575,192 09/575,181 09/575,193 09/575,156 09/575,183 09/575,16009/575,150 09/575,169 09/575,184 09/575,128 09/575,180 09/575,14909/575,179 09/575,187 09/575,155 09/575,133 09/575,143 09/575,19609/575,198 09/575,178 09/575,164 09/575,146 09/575,174 09/575,16309/575,168 09/575,154 09/575,129 09/575,124 09/575,188 09/575,18909/575,162 09/575,172 09/575,170 09/575,171 09/575,161 09/575,14109/575,125 09/575,142 09/575,140 09/575,190 09/575,138 09/575,12609/575,127 09/575,158 09/575,117 09/575,147 09/575,152 09/575,17609/575,115 09/575,114 09/575,113 09/575,112 09/575,111 09/575,10809/575,109

The dislosure of these co-pending applications are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the handling of documents and inparticular the movement of bound documents between stations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the advent of the Internet has come the opportunity for the printmedia industry to publish “on-line” rather than producing anddistributing traditional paper based publications. On-line publishinghas a number of advantages. From the consumer's point of view,information is available on demand, information can be navigated viahypertext links, information can be searched, and information can beautomatically personalized. From the publisher's point of view, thecosts of printing and physical distribution are eliminated and thepublication becomes more attractive to advertisers as it can be targetedto specific demographics and linked to product sites.

On-line publication also has disadvantages. Computer screens areinferior to paper. At the same quality as a magazine page, a SVGAcomputer screen displays only about a fifth as much information. BothCRT's (Cathode Ray Tubes) and LCD's (Liquid Crystal Displays) havebrightness and contrast problems, particularly, when ambient light isstrong. Ink on paper, being reflective rather than emissive is bothbright and sharp in ambient light. Accordingly, people have a naturalpreference to read newspapers, magazines, catalogues, brochures andother publications in a bound paper based format.

Printers that incorporate a binding means may be connected to theInternet and conveniently used for the on-line publication of the bounddocuments. Ideally, any regularly received periodical publications wouldbe automatically printed, bound and awaiting collection at thesubscriber's convenience. However, if a number of periodicals areautomatically printed while the subscriber is out or otherwise unable toclear the document collection station, the documents already awaitingcollection may impede the transfer of further documents to thecollection station and thereby delay other printing operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide means to effectivelytransfer printed documents from one station to another. Accordingly, thepresent invention provides a document transfer device for transferringdocuments to a collection station, the transfer device including:

means for selectively moving a document to the collection station; and

guide means to prevent documents being transferred from being hamperedby contact with any documents already in the collection station.

Preferably, the transfer device is incorporated into a printer withintegral document binding means to transfer documents from the bindingmeans to the collection station.

In some forms of the present invention, the means for selectively movinga document is at least partially defined by a base member for supportingdocuments, the base member being movable to selectively remove supportfor the document to allow it to transfer to the collection station.Conveniently, the bound document may transfer to the collection stationunder the action of gravity.

In one particularly preferred form, the base member is a hinged exithatch, hingedly mounted opposite a flexible foil, the hatch adapted toselectively rotate about its hinge such it becomes a document chutewhich is configured to cooperate with the flexible foil to preventdocuments being transferred from being hampered by contact with anydocuments already in the collection station.

In some embodiments the transfer means further includes a plurality offlexible foils having different lengths to accommodate different sizedbound documents.

Preferably the transfer device has a sensor means for sensing when thereis no more capacity in the collection station in order to suspendfurther printing until the collection station is able to receive anotherbound document. In a further preferred form, the transfer device has atamper sensor to detect document jams or other interference acting toprevent the exit hatch from returning to a document support position.

Embodiments of the invention that have been incorporated into a printerare preferably adapted to print the full width of the pagesimultaneously.

It will be appreciated that by providing a document transfer device inaccordance with the present invention, documents can transferred to acollection station with little risk of disruptions from interferencewith documents in the collection station awaiting collection. With theaid of modem printers and computer network technology, the invention hasmany applications in on-line publication of newspapers, magazines,brochures and so on. The present invention will be described withparticular reference to the Applicant's netpage system. An overview ofthis system is set out below. It has been developed to allow a largenumber of distributed users to interact with networked information viaprinted matter and optical sensors thereby to obtain interactive printedmatter on demand from high-speed networked color printers.

For this purpose, the Applicant has developed a range of netpageprinters. Of these, the wallprinter is designed to be wall mounted inthe area where the user would normally first consume the morning newssuch as in the kitchen or beside the breakfast table. In light of this,it is expected that the wallprinter will be one of the most widely usedof the netpage printers and therefore it will be described in detailbelow to illustrate one specific embodiment of the invention. However,it will be appreciated that this is merely one example of the invention,which may be embodied in many other forms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front three-quarter view of the wallprinter;

FIG. 2 shows a section through the length of the wallprinter;

FIG. 2a is an enlarged portion of FIG. 2 showing a section of theduplexed print engines;

FIG. 3 shows a simple exploded view of the wallprinter;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the ink cartridge;

FIG. 5 shows three-quarter views of the ink cartridge;

FIG. 6 shows a three-quarter view of a single ink bladder;

FIGS. 7a and 7 b show lateral and longitudinal sections of the inkcartridge;

FIG. 8 shows a front three-quarter view of the open media tray;

FIG. 9 shows the ink, air and adhesive supply hoses to the printengines;

FIG. 10 shows a front three-quarter view of the electrical system of theprinter;

FIG. 11 shows a rear three-quarter view of the electrical system;

FIG. 12 shows a front three-quarter view of the wallprinter with thelower front cover removed;

FIG. 13 shows a section through the binder assembly;

FIG. 14 shows a rear three-quarter view of the open glue wheel assembly;

FIG. 15 shows a section through the binding assembly and the exit hatch;

FIG. 16 shows a three-dimensional view of an interface module;

FIG. 17 shows an exploded view of an interface module;

FIG. 18 shows a top three-quarter view of the media tray; and

FIG. 19 shows a section through the top part of the printer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Note: Memjet™ is the Trade Mark of Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd,Australia.

In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to work withthe netpage system, an overview of which follows. The system isdescribed in this specification to reduce the need for externalreference when attempting to understand the context in which thepreferred embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate.

In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of,and human interaction with, netpages. These are pages of text, graphicsand images printed on ordinary paper, but which work like interactiveWeb pages. Information is encoded on each page using ink, which issubstantially invisible to the unaided human eye. The ink, however, andthereby the encoded information, can be sensed by an optically imagingpen (the netpage pen) and transmitted to the netpage system.

In the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each page can beclicked with the netpage pen to request information from the network orto signal preferences to a network server. In one embodiment, textwritten by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized via the pen,allowing forms to be filled in. In other embodiments, signaturesrecorded on a netpage are automatically verified, allowing e-commercetransactions to be securely authorized.

The netpage pen works in conjunction with a netpage printer, anInternet-connected printing appliance for home, office or mobile use.The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage printervia a short-range radio link.

The netpage printer delivers, periodically or on demand, personalizednewspapers, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other publications, allprinted at high quality as interactive netpages. Unlike a personalcomputer, the netpage printer is an appliance which can be, for example,wall-mounted adjacent an area where the morning news is first consumed,such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or at thehousehold's point of departure for the day. It also comes in tabletop,desktop, portable and miniature versions.

Netpages printed at their point of consumption combine the ease-of-useof paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium.

The netpage system is made considerably more convenient because of thefunctional superiority of the netpage printers. At the heart of theseprinters are high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) basedinkjet (Memjet™) printheads described in various co-pending and co-filedapplications from the list above. In the preferred form of thistechnology, relatively high-speed and high-quality printing is made moreaffordable to consumers. In its preferred form, a netpage publicationhas the physical characteristics of a traditional newsmagazine, such asa set of letter-size glossy pages printed in full color on both sides,bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling.

A netpage printer prints pages of photographic-quality images andmagazine quality text at a rate of over 30 double sided sheets perminute (that is, more than 60 pages per minute). They come in a varietyof forms, including wall-mounted versions, tabletop versions, portableversions, and pocket versions. Given the nature of the netpage system,it is envisaged that one of the most commercially relevant forms ofnetpage printer will be the wall mounted version referred to aswallprinter. For convenience, the present invention will be described indetail with reference to this specific version shown in the accompanyingdrawings.

The vertically-mounted netpage wallprinter 600 is shown fully assembledin FIGS. 1 and 2. As best shown in FIGS. 2, 2 a and 19, it printsnetpages on A4 sized media using duplexed 8½″ Memjet™ print engines 602and 603. It uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passingthrough duplexed print engines 602 and 603 which print both sides of asheet simultaneously, in full color and with full bleed. A multi-DSPraster image processor (RIP) rasterizes pages to internal memory, and apair of custom print engine controllers expand, dither and print pageimages to the duplexed printheads in real time.

An integral binding assembly 605 applies a strip of glue along one edgeof each printed sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet whenpressed against it. This creates a final bound document 618 which canrange in thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets. The bindingassembly will be considered in close detail below with particularreference to FIGS. 13, 14 and 15.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, the wallprinter 600 consists of a mainchassis 606, which accommodates all major components and assemblies. Asbest shown in FIG. 8, it has a pivoting media tray 607 on the frontupper portion, which is covered by a front molding 608 and handlemolding 609. The front molding 608, handle molding 609 and lower frontmolding 610 can vary in color, texture and finish to make the productmore appealing to consumers. They simply clip onto the front of thewallprinter 600.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the wallprinter electrical system in isolation. Aflexible printed circuit board (flex PCB) 611 runs from the media tray607 to the main PCB 612. It includes four different color LEDs 613, 614,615 and 616 and a push button 617. The LEDs show through the frontmolding and indicate “on” 613, “ink out” 614, “paper out” 615, and“error” 616. The push button 617 elicits printed “help” in the form ofusage instructions, printer and consumable status information, and adirectory of resources on the netpage network.

Printed, bound documents 618 exit through the base of the wallprinter600 into a clear, plastic, removable collection tray 619. This isdiscussed in greater detail below with specific reference to FIG. 15.

The wallprinter 600 is powered by an internal 110V/220V power supply 620and has a metal mounting plate 621 that is secured to a wall or stablevertical surface by four screws. Plunged keyhole slot details 622 in themetal plate 621 allow for four spigots mounted on the rear of theprinter to hook onto the plate. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 19, thewallprinter 600 is prevented from being lifted off by a screw, whichlocates the chassis molding 606 to the plate 621 at one position behindthe media tray 607.

Referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, the side of the wallprinter 600 includes amodule bay 624 which accommodates a network interface module 625 whichallows the printer to be connected to the netpage network and to a localcomputer or network. The interface module 625 can be selected andinstalled in the factory or in the field to provide the interfacesrequired by the user. The modules may have common connector options,such as: IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connection, standard Centronics printerport connection or a combined USB2 649 and Ethernet 650 connection. Thisallows the consumer to connect the wallprinter 600 to a computer or useit as a network printer. FIG. 17 shows the exploded assembly of themodule 625. The interface module PCB 651, (with gold contact edgestrips) plugs directly into the main wallprinter PCB 612 via an edgeconnector 654. The different connector configurations are accommodatedin the module design by use of a tool insert 652. Finger recesses 653 oneither side of the module 625 allow for easy manual insertion orremoval.

Turning to FIG. 19, the main PCB 612 is attached to the rear of thechassis 606. The board 612 interfaces through the chassis molding 606 tothe interface module 625. The PCB 612 also carries the necessaryperipheral electronics to the Memjet™ printheads 705. This includes amain CPU with two 32MB DRAMs, flash memory, IEEE 1394 interface chip,six motor controllers, various sensor connectors, interface module PCBedge connector, power management, internal/external data connectors anda QA chip.

FIG. 8 shows the front hatch access to the paper 604 and the inkcartridge 627. Referring to FIG. 18, paper 604 is placed into a hingedtop tray 607 and pressed down onto a sprung platen 666. The tray 607 ismounted to the chassis 606 via hinges 700. Each hinge has a base, ahinge lever and a hinge side. Pivots on the base and paper/media tray607 engage the lever and side such that the paper/media tray 607 rotatesin a manner that avoids kinking the supply hoses 646.

The paper 604 is positioned under edge guides 667 before being closedand is automatically registered to one side of the tray 607 by action ofa metal spring part 668. An ink cartridge 627 connects into a pivotingink connector molding 628 via a series of self-sealing connectors 629.The connectors 629 transmit ink, air and glue to their separatelocations. The ink connector molding 628 contains a sensor, whichdetects a QA chip on the ink cartridge and verifies identification priorto printing. When the front hatch is sensed closed, a release mechanismallows the sprung platen 666 to push the paper 604 against a motorizedmedia pick-up roller assembly 626.

FIG. 4, shows the complete assembly of the replaceable ink cartridge627. It has bladders or chambers for storing fixative 644, adhesive 630,and cyan 631, magenta 632, yellow 633, black 634 and infrared 635 inks.The cartridge 627 also contains a micro air filter 636 in a base molding637. As shown in FIG. 9, the micro air filter 636 interfaces with an airpump 638 inside the printer via a hose 639. This provides filtered airto the printheads 705 to prevent ingress of micro particles into theMemjet™ printheads 705 which may clog the nozzles. By incorporating theair filter 636 within the cartridge 627, the operational life of thefilter is effectively linked to the life of the cartridge. This ensuresthat the filter is replaced together with the cartridge rather thanrelying on the user to clean or replace the filter at the requiredintervals.

The cartridge 627 has a thin wall casing 640. The ink bladders 631 to635 and fixitive bladder 644 are suspended within the casing by a pin645 which hooks the cartridge together. The single glue bladder 630 isaccommodated in the base molding 637. This is a fully recyclable productwith a capacity for printing and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets).

Referring to FIGS. 2, 2 a, 10, 11 and 19, the motorized media pick-uproller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray607 past a paper sensor (not shown) on the first print engine 602 intothe duplexed Memjet™ printhead assembly.

Two Memjet™ print engines 602 and 603 are mounted in an opposing in-linesequential configuration along the straight paper path. The paper 604 isdrawn into the first print engine 602 by integral, powered pick-uprollers 626. The position and size of the paper 604 is sensed and fullbleed printing commences.

Fixative is printed simultaneously to aid drying in the shortestpossible time.

As best shown in FIG. 2a, the Memjet™ print engines 602 and 603 includea rotary capping, blotting and platen device 669. The capping deviceseals the Memjet™ printheads 705 when not in use. It uncaps and rotatesto produce an integral blotter, which is used for absorbing ink firedfrom the printheads 705 during routine printer startup maintenance. Itsimultaneously moves an internal capping device inside the Memjet™printhead 705 that allows air to flow into the protective nozzle shieldarea. The third rotation of the device moves a platen surface intoplace, which supports one side of the sheet 604 during printing.

The paper exits the first Memjet™ print engine 602 through a set ofpowered exit spike wheels (aligned along the straight paper path), whichacts against a rubberized roller. These spike wheels contact the ‘wet’printed surface and continue to feed the sheet 604 into the secondMemjet™ print engine 603.

This second print engine 603 is mounted the opposite way up to the firstin order to print the underside of the sheet 604.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 2 a, 9, 13 and 14, the paper 604 passes from theduplexed print engines 602 and 603, into the binder assembly 605. Theprinted page passes between a powered spike wheel axle 670 with afibrous support roller and another movable axle with spike wheels and amomentary action glue wheel 673. The movable axle/glue assembly 673 ismounted to a metal support bracket and it is transported forward tointerface with the powered axle 670 by action of a camshaft 642. Aseparate motor powers 675 this camshaft. Both motors 676 are controlledby the Memjet™ printheads.

The glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 witha rotating coupling 680 for the glue supply hose 641 from the inkcartridge 627. This axle 679 connects to a glue wheel 681, which absorbsadhesive by capillary action through radial holes. A molded housingsurrounds the glue wheel 681, with an opening at the front. Pivotingside moldings 683 and sprung outer doors 684 are attached to the metalsupport bracket and hinge out sideways when the rest of the assembly 673is thrust forward. This action exposes the glue wheel 681 through thefront of the molded housing. Tension springs 685 close the assembly andeffectively cap the glue wheel 681 during periods of inactivity.

As the sheet 604 passes into the glue wheel assembly 673, adhesive isapplied to one vertical edge on the front side (apart from the firstsheet of a document) as it is transported down into the binding assembly605. It will be appreciated that this arrangement applies adhesive toeach page during printing so that the paper movement through the printeris not interrupted or stopped at a separate gluing station. Thisincreases the printer speed, however, it requires that the pages movethrough the printer in “portrait” configuration (that is, in a directionparallel to the long edges). This in turn requires the paper tray,binding station and collection station to be in portrait configuration.This may make the overall length of the printer too great toconveniently fit into areas having limited space. In these situations,the media tray, binding station and collection station can be arrangedin “landscape” orientation (short sides parallel to paper movement) toshorten the length of the printer. However, the gluing assembly muststill be able to apply glue along the long side of the pages. In thisversion of wallprinter (not shown), the adhesive is applied to thelongitudinal edge of each page with a reciprocating glue strip.

The “portrait” binder assembly 605 is best shown in FIG. 13. It has ametal support chassis 686, a sprung molded binding platen 687 that runson four traverser rods, a molded angled platen 689 which supports thedocument 618 after the sheet 604 has been moved across, and an exithatch 690 with support bracket 691. The printed page 604 is fed in untilit rests on the exit hatch 690. The binding platen 687 is propelledforward at high speed via a looped system of wheels 692 and a sprungsteel cable 693 that attaches to a powered cable winder shaft 694. Asthe cable winder shaft 694 is rotated, the cable loop 693 shortens andtransports the binding platen 687 forward. This powered shaft 694 has aslip clutch mechanism and provides the necessary speed to push the sheet604 forward onto the rear of a previous sheet, glue/bind it then returnunder the action of return springs 699 to the home position to acceptthe next printed sheet. A single operating cycle of the reciprocatingplaten takes less than 2 seconds.

The binding assembly 605 binds pages one by one into a bound document,thereby producing bound documents without significantly adding to thetime taken to print the separate pages of the document. Furthermore itapplies the adhesive directly prior to pressing it against the previouspage. This is more effective than applying adhesive to the rear of eachpage and sequentially pressing each page to the subsequent page becauseany interruption in the printing process such as replenishing the papersupply may allow the adhesive applied to the last adhered page todeteriorate and become less effective.

The cable 693 is sprung to allow for positive pressure to be applied tothe previous sheet to aid binding. Furthermore, the angled platen 689 isshallower at the top than at the base in order to support the document618 in an over axis configuration.

A sensor 700 operatively connected to the control of the stepper motor,may be used to determine the position of the last page bound to thedocument to allow the platen to accurately adhere the next page to it.

A paper tapper 643 knocks the sheet 604 to one side of the binder 605 asit is transported across to the angled platen 689. The main PCB 612controls motors 695, 696 and 697 for the cable winder shaft 694, thetapper 643 and the exit hatch 690 respectively.

When a document 618 is bound and finished, the powered exit hatch 690opens. A tamper sensor 702 is provided to detect document jams or otherinterference acting to prevent the exit hatch 690 from closing. Thetapper 643 also tap aligns the printed document 618 during ejection outof the binder 605 into the collection tray 619. Plastic foils 698 on thelower front molding 610 work together with the hatch 690 to direct thefinished document 618 to the back of the collection tray 619 and feedany further documents into the tray without hitting existing ones. Aplurality of flexible foils may be provided, each having differentlengths to accommodate documents having different page sizes. Thecollection tray 619 is molded in clear plastic and pulls out of itssocket under a certain loading. Access for removing documents isprovided on three sides.

The invention has been described herein with reference to the specificexamples only. Skilled workers in this field will readily recognize manyvariations and modifications, which do not depart from the spirit andscope of the broad inventive concept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printer that comprises: a media tray in whichsheets of planar print media can be stored; a sheet feed mechanism thatis operatively arranged with respect to the media tray to feed sheets ofmedia from the media tray; a pagewidth, inkjet printing mechanism thatis positioned downstream of the media tray to receive sheets of printmedia from the sheet feed mechanism and to print on the sheets; abinding mechanism that is positioned downstream of the printingmechanism, the binding mechanism comprising a glue applicator which isoperable on each printed sheet to apply a strip of glue to each sheet;and a reciprocating platen and a stationary platen positioned downstreamof the glue applicator, the reciprocating platen being reciprocallydisplaceable towards and away from the stationary platen to act on eachprinted sheet to place the printed sheets one on top of the other on thestationary platen with respective strips of glue aligned and to urgeconsecutive printed sheets on to each other, so that the glue can serveto attach the sheets to each other to form the bound document; adocument feed mechanism that is positioned downstream of the bindingmechanism to feed each bound document from the binding means; acollection tray positioned downstream of the binding mechanism, thecollection tray being configured to receive each bound document from thedocument feed mechanism, the sheet feed mechanism, the printingmechanism and the binding mechanism defining a substantially linearsheet feed path; and a microprocessor-based controller for controllingoperation of the sheet feed mechanism, the printing mechanism, thebinding mechanism and the document feed mechanism.
 2. A printer asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the printer is configured to be mounted on asupport surface so that the printing mechanism is positioned above thebinding mechanism which, in turn, is positioned above the collectiontray so that the sheet feed mechanism is a gravity feed mechanism andcomprises a hinged exit hatch that is operable between an open andclosed condition, the hinged exit hatch being connected to thecontroller to be retained in a closed condition until all the pages of adocument are printed and glued together and then displaced into its opencondition so that the bound document is fed by gravity into thecollection tray; and a guide mechanism that is operatively positionedwith respect to the exit hatch to facilitate the transfer of a bounddocument from the binding mechanism to the collection tray.